Mini WSM or Some Other Charcoal Smoker?

[s2k9k]

I've been reading a lot about the Mini WSM's and how good they work so it has made me want to build one. So far my parts list is at $99 and I still need hardware and paint which will be about another $20. So I am wondering if it is worth it or is there another similar type charcoal smoker that for about $100 that works as well as a Mini without a lot of mods that would cost more money?

 

[chef jimmyj]

Let me get this straight...Mini WSM is a Fire Pot, a Water Pan or other plate (flower pot base) to create indirect heat, a Tube Body and a Lid... Sounds like...

BRINKMANN Brinkmann 810-5301-6 Smoke N Grill Charcoal Smoker & Grill- Black  

This product is available through a Sears distributor.

$53.97

Add an adjustable vent and go...

...JJ

 

[piaconis]

X2 JJ.  I'd check Walmart.  They've been on sale by me, since we're getting in the tail end of the season.

 

[s2k9k]

Thanks guys! That's what i started thinking after I started adding up costs but I've read how the Mini is so good about holding temps and is almost set it and forget it where the ECB's seem to have a lot of temp issues and need a lot of babysitting.

Maybe I need to research the ECB's a little more.

 

[big twig]

The mini WSM works much better then the brinkmann but......... The mini WSM mod is really more for people that already have a Weber smokey joe and would like to make it more versatile (not just a grill but a smoker too). I made one cause I already had a smokey joe for tailgating and said hey I can fit a pot in the car also so I can have a tailgating smoker too, sweet. Now I use it more then anything. I take it on vacation with me and use it for small smokes. I can say I probably use it 3-4 times a week now since it takes little to no fuel, heats up super fast (as well as cools down fast) and fits just enough for a couple people to have dinner, or to make an appetizer (I make a lot of smoked fish dip with it). For the $100 I am pretty sure you can make a UDS which is larger and very consistent (everyone I know that has a UDS loves it, haven't gotten around to making one myself yet). If you already have a smokey joe and $40 or so extra dollars, go ahead and make your joe a smoker too. If starting from scratch and this is you first smoker, I would either make a UDS, buy the beginner brinkmanns, charbroils, etc. then decide if you want to add to the arsenal.

Just my two cents.

 

[s2k9k]

Thanks Twig! I don't really want something as big as a UDS, my GOSM works great for when I want to smoke a lot of meat at one time. I just wanted to try charcoal since I have never used it and have something smaller to do smaller smokes.

 

[mdboatbum]

As a Brinkmann survivor and a  Mini WSM user, I can attest to the fact that the 2 do share a common ingredient: They both apply heat and smoke to food. Beyond that, they're vastly different. The Brinkmann is a quick way to test the waters of smoking. It's cheap, relatively easy to set up and use out of the box and will, in most cases, smoke food. It's also finicky to get it to hold a temperature, completely non adjustable and doesn't, in it's stock form, last very long on one load of fuel and water. That being said, it's a great starting point. My Craigslist ECB is what got me interested in improving my abilities and exploring other options.

The Mini WSM on the other hand is slightly less cheap, and (comparatively) finicky to build, set up and use on the front end. Once the rather shallow learning curve is accomplished, however, it's a little dynamo. It's rock solid on temps from 200˚ up through the low to mid 300's. Will go for many hours on one load of coal, doesn't use water, and can be extinguished to save coals for later use just like its esteemed namesake. It's also dead simple to go from smoker to grill to oven mode. I've cooked everything from pancakes (yes, in a skillet) to pork butts to chicken to steaks to peach cobbler on mine with ease. I've even brewed coffee on the grate over a full load of lit coals.

I realize I probably sound like a broken record in my regard for this little homemade Frankenstein smoker. It's just that for the minimal investment in money and time, it's pretty amazing.

 

[s2k9k]

I'm trying to understand how the Mini can do such a better job at maintaining temps and have longer burn times than an ECB.

 

[mdboatbum]

I'm trying to understand how the Mini can do such a better job at maintaining temps and have longer burn times than an ECB.

Several reasons. First and foremost, if made properly, the Mini is a sealed vessel, meaning the only oxygen getting to the fire is what you give it through your settings on the vents. The ECB has an open bottom with a predetermined gap around the coal pan which provides a constant flow of air. If it's windy and/or cold, the amount of oxygen to the fire remains the same (or changes arbitrarily) so the pit temperature reacts. With the mini, you can adjust the vents according to external conditions so if you're shooting for 250˚ let's say, and the wind picks up, you can adjust the air getting to the coals to raise or lower the "flame" so you can maintain that 250˚

Secondly, the ECB has one of several versions of a coal pan, some with holes in it, some without. This is an inherently difficult way to maintain a charcoal fire. The fire, once again, gets and uses whatever oxygen is available, and the ashes have nowhere to go. Thus, burn times suffer. The mini utilizes (depending on the builder) one form or another of a charcoal basket. The fire easily utilizes the available oxygen from all sides and the ashes fall away. The coals burn more efficiently allowing for more controlled and longer burns. Think of it this way. Let's say you have 2 burners on your stove. One is a regular burner, with a knob that adjusts the flame or coil from low to high. The other simply has an on and off switch. Burner A allows you to boil water, simmer stew, stir a custard and everything in between. Burner B only offers you one level of heat, so if you want to do anything that requires a different level of heat, you have to move your pot on and off the burner to maintain whatever temp you're going for. Which one would you use?

Lastly, the ECB uses a water pan. Granted this is easily worked around, but the guy who goes to the hardware store, buys an ECB, reads the instructions and sets out to smoke meat is probably going to use water in the pan. Again, this is an inherently difficult way to go. As a concept, a gallon or so of water as a heat sink is a good idea. However, in practice, not so much. Water evaporates, meaning your heat sink is diminishing from the time it hits the heat. In a perfectly controlled laboratory experiment the water would evaporate at the exact same rate as the coals burn down, meaning the amount of water needed to regulate the fire remains in perfect harmony with the size of the fire, leading to the last drop of water evaporating at the exact instant the fire burns out. Ummm, yeah right. This ain't gonna happen. What is going to happen is that the operator of the ECB is going to have a couple beers, get distracted by the game or his guests and not realize that the water has cooked away. By the time he checks on his smoker, it's at 500˚ and his dinner is toast. If he does notice the temp spiking before his food is destroyed, he's going to try and refill the water pan, resulting in a cloud of extremely hot steam burning his hand, causing a violent reaction of the aforementioned hand resulting in the better part of a gallon of water being dumped into the coal pan, extinguishing the fire, creating more hot steam and coating dinner with a layer of ash. The mini uses a solid mass of ceramic, sand, iron or stone as a heat sink. This remains constant, thus allowing the operator to adjust the fire to maintain whatever level of heat he wants. Again, which would you choose?

**These assertions are the result of my own personal experience. The ECB is a fine cooker, I just happen to prefer the Mini for my use. Your experience will dictate which is right for you.

 

[s2k9k]

Several reasons. First and foremost, if made properly, the Mini is a sealed vessel, meaning the only oxygen getting to the fire is what you give it through your settings on the vents. The ECB has an open bottom with a predetermined gap around the coal pan which provides a constant flow of air. If it's windy and/or cold, the amount of oxygen to the fire remains the same (or changes arbitrarily) so the pit temperature reacts. With the mini, you can adjust the vents according to external conditions so if you're shooting for 250˚ let's say, and the wind picks up, you can adjust the air getting to the coals to raise or lower the "flame" so you can maintain that 250˚

Secondly, the ECB has one of several versions of a coal pan, some with holes in it, some without. This is an inherently difficult way to maintain a charcoal fire. The fire, once again, gets and uses whatever oxygen is available, and the ashes have nowhere to go. Thus, burn times suffer. The mini utilizes (depending on the builder) one form or another of a charcoal basket. The fire easily utilizes the available oxygen from all sides and the ashes fall away. The coals burn more efficiently allowing for more controlled and longer burns. Think of it this way. Let's say you have 2 burners on your stove. One is a regular burner, with a knob that adjusts the flame or coil from low to high. The other simply has an on and off switch. Burner A allows you to boil water, simmer stew, stir a custard and everything in between. Burner B only offers you one level of heat, so if you want to do anything that requires a different level of heat, you have to move your pot on and off the burner to maintain whatever temp you're going for. Which one would you use?

Lastly, the ECB uses a water pan. Granted this is easily worked around, but the guy who goes to the hardware store, buys an ECB, reads the instructions and sets out to smoke meat is probably going to use water in the pan. Again, this is an inherently difficult way to go. As a concept, a gallon or so of water as a heat sink is a good idea. However, in practice, not so much. Water evaporates, meaning your heat sink is diminishing from the time it hits the heat. In a perfectly controlled laboratory experiment the water would evaporate at the exact same rate as the coals burn down, meaning the amount of water needed to regulate the fire remains in perfect harmony with the size of the fire, leading to the last drop of water evaporating at the exact instant the fire burns out. Ummm, yeah right. This ain't gonna happen. What is going to happen is that the operator of the ECB is going to have a couple beers, get distracted by the game or his guests and not realize that the water has cooked away. By the time he checks on his smoker, it's at 500˚ and his dinner is toast. If he does notice the temp spiking before his food is destroyed, he's going to try and refill the water pan, resulting in a cloud of extremely hot steam burning his hand, causing a violent reaction of the aforementioned hand resulting in the better part of a gallon of water being dumped into the coal pan, extinguishing the fire, creating more hot steam and coating dinner with a layer of ash. The mini uses a solid mass of ceramic, sand, iron or stone as a heat sink. This remains constant, thus allowing the operator to adjust the fire to maintain whatever level of heat he wants. Again, which would you choose?

**These assertions are the result of my own personal experience. The ECB is a fine cooker, I just happen to prefer the Mini for my use. Your experience will dictate which is right for you.

Is this an assumption or did it happen to you or someone you know?

 

[mdboatbum]

That's a pretty heavy assumption!

Not an assumption at all. Like I said, this is based on my personal experience. This actually happened to me. My assumption is that it's happened to others. Anyone whose used an ECB in its stock form can attest to the fact that it's perfectly designed for just this scenario.

I don't want to hijack your thread here with an argument over semantics. You asked for opinions on the Mini versus other charcoal smokers and I tried to give an honest review of the Mini VS the ECB. Hope it helped.

 

[chef jimmyj]

That's a pretty heavy assumption!

 Actually Dave, that would probably be ME and...Scarbelly Too!

...Was a good explanation of the differences...Thanks for the education Bum...JJ

 

[s2k9k]

You asked for opinions on the Mini versus other charcoal smokers and I tried to give an honest review of the Mini VS the ECB. Hope it helped.

Thank You!

 

[mdboatbum]

Thank You!

Quite welcome. Since there are shockingly few things in this world on which I can offer what I (or more to the point, others) feel is a somewhat informed opinion, I'm happy to share wherever possible. Hope your quest for a charcoal smoker is successful. Can't wait to see which you get!

 

[bama bbq]

In my opinion, you can't buy a better portable smoker/grill than the mini WSM for the money.  It has a permanent place in the RV and as indicated above, each meal of every day can be cooked on it with predictable consistency wether a high heat grilled steak, mid temp smoked chicken, or low and slow butt for pulled pork sammies.  Not sure others have such diversity.

 

[rabbithutch]

Add me to the list of mini-WSM zealots.

I have no experience with and zero knowledge of the Brinkmann (but I've never let ignorance stop me before :yahoo: )

The biggest advantage I see to the mini is that it can be a smoker or a small grill. That's a lot of versatility. Can the Brinkmann do that?

As for the cost, I already had the SJS. I bought the steamer ($20), a couple of grills (~$25), a thermometer ($8) and used a few nuts and bolts from the supply on hand. I didn't bother with paint. I could have done without the thermometer and I've never used the third grill; so I could have reduced costs by about $20. I couldn't have bought a Brinkmann for what I have in the Smokey Joe.

I don' t know how productive cl is in SE Georgia, but you can probably find an SJS for $10 or less. Of course, you'll probably want a new grill too. That puts total cost at ~$50 if you shop carefully. You'll save that much on fuel in one year.

JM2¢W -

 

[s2k9k]

Thanks everyone for your replies and experience. 

I was just wondering if there was something I could get and use out of the box with some minor mods that would save me a few $, but it seems there really isn't. I read many many threads about the Mini and many other similar smokers yesterday I went into "information overload" and almost gave up on the idea altogether. Then I sent a PM to a member here who always gives very  in depth detailed technical information that is easy to understand (can you guess who this might be?) who i knew had a Brinkmann Gourmet and he wrote me back with just what I was looking for. 

So between his information and what I got from Mdboatbum, BIGTWIG, Bama and so many others on here I see that the ECB isn't going to do what I want which is mainly long burn times without a lot of babysitting and from everything I have read the Mini will! So I think I'm going to go ahead with the Mini build!

I asked this other member if I could post his response here because I think other people can learn a lot about the ECB by it and he said, "sure", so here is what he had to say:

Hey Dave, the gourmet does need tending quite frequently, even with the mods I've done to mine. I was never able to get mine tight enough to get the minion method to work...it always would seem to get a good whiff of air now and then, and before you knew what happened, temps were ablaze. Grate size is 15-1/2" vs 14" with the mini, although the barrel of the gourmet is 17". You won't gain much on the size of what you can toss into the gourmet over the mini.

It's kind of a coin toss for value/cost of the gourmet over what seems to be a very good burn and temp control with those minis. I got mine for $59.00 on sale, and if it weren't for the sale, I would have kept passing it up. But it did give me a new toy to play with, and I do still enjoy using it more than any of my other rigs. Last spring, I got my hands on a Smoke n Grill ($39.00...spring of '11) just for the barrel, grates and pans, to add to the gourmet as a stacker (up to 4 grates and over 4ft tall). Still doing some tweeking to that, but stumbled into a fix for grate temp variances on a smoke a while back that was to hit on.

From what I read about a few of the mini's performance, they do maintain temps and have some long legs as far as burn time is concerned. It's all about the intake air control and an air-tight barrel/pan joint...very tight, with infinite adjustments will make it happen. I use about 2-3lbs of hot briqs to start my gourmet, and add about 1/2-3/4lb per hour, depending on weather. Sometimes I can get about 90 minutes between adding more hot coals, but that's about as far as I try to stretch it, as adding too much at a time can get out of control pretty easily.

Oh, not sure if you caught the thread I did on the AMNPS in my Gourmet. That shows most of the mods I have done to it, along with what I did to make the AMNPS happy.  I think there's a link to the original mods I did to the gourmet a couple years ago:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...rinkmann-gourmet-charcoal-test-trials-and-mod

Hope that helps give you a better idea what you can do with the gourmet to get a bit better performance from it. I didn't stick much money into mine, mostly salvaged/scrap parts, and a couple stove bolts to jack up the charcoal grate (when I added the AMNPS for testing).

So can you guess who it is yet?

Yep you're right.....Eric (forluvofsmoke) and if you've never read any of his threads you should look them up, very interesting and informative writing!

Thanks again everyone! and if you have anymore input I will be happy to absorb it!

 

[ribwizzard]

Ive gone through 4 or 5 Gourmet brinkmans over the years ( I call them R2D2 smokers) and agree with everything everyone has said in this thread.   With that said, some of the best Turkeys I've ever done have come off of these units.  Something about the size and shape of the unit and the 12-14 lb bird works out just right.

Just thinking about the good old days, thats all......